Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Some Remarks on the Nature and Practice of UNMEE

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The 1998–2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia War and Its Aftermath in International Legal Perspective

  • 526 Accesses

Abstract

The chapter by Andrea de Guttry deals with institutional aspects of UNMEE, its creation, and activities. It also reflects on the implementation of its mandate, especially in relation to the two States concerned. This short chapter will be limited to some remarks on the character and nature of UNMEE and discusses certain aspects of its creation and legal basis, and the operational difficulties UNMEE experienced in practice caused by the conduct of both States, but mainly by Eritrea. It also notes discrepancies between Security Council responses in reaction to (non-)cooperation and/or obstruction, that is, whether to take Article 41 measures or not. This became particularly relevant when the SC had to decide on extensions of the mandate of UNMEE. For the updated version of this chapter in various places the present and future tense have been reformulated into past tense.

The author has been Senior Researcher and Head of Research at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, and Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Venturini, Chap. 15.

  2. 2.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.3.

  3. 3.

    See SC, Report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea, 30 June 2000, S/2000/643.

  4. 4.

    See Jakobsen 2001, p. 167.

  5. 5.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.3.

  6. 6.

    See Llewellyn 2006, n 14.

  7. 7.

    The humanitarian situation was aggravated by a persistent severe drought, especially in Ethiopia. The resulting food crisis affected millions of people. On the humanitarian component of UNMEE, see also de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sects. 5.1 and 5.5.

  8. 8.

    Cf., e.g., the SC Resolutions on Somalia and on Sudan and the situation in Darfur, where such explicit reference is made, and in which situation there is no consent of the State involved.

  9. 9.

    SC Res 1227 (1999), 10 February 1999, S/RES/1227. Note that the Security Council does not refer explicitly to international peace and security.

  10. 10.

    SC Res 1298 (2000), 17 May 2000. In this Resolution the Security Council, inter alia, decided to impose sanctions on both parties to the conflict. See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.1.1.

  11. 11.

    See e.g. Zwanenburg 2006, p. 487.

  12. 12.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.3.

  13. 13.

    Generally, albeit about the pre-UNMEE situation, see, e.g. Deen-Racsmany 2000.

  14. 14.

    See Holt and Shanahan 2005, n 1.

  15. 15.

    Peace and Security Council (African Union), Common African Position on the UN Review of Peace Operations, 502nd Meeting, 29 April 2015, Doc PSC/PR/2(DII). https://www.peaceau.org/uploads/psc.502.peace.operations.29-04-2015-1-.pdf. Accessed 20 August 2020

  16. 16.

    ECOWAS was founded in 1975, has 15 member States, and its Headquarters in Abudja, Nigeria.

  17. 17.

    The AU, since 2002, has 53 member States, and its Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

  18. 18.

    A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, 2 December 2004, A/59/565.

  19. 19.

    Report of the Panel on UN Peace Operations, 21 August 2000, A/55/305–S/2000/809.

  20. 20.

    Common African Position on the UN Review of Peace Operations (above n 16) para VIII (‘Financing of AU Peace Operations’).

  21. 21.

    See Holt and Shanahan 2005, p. 64.

  22. 22.

    See Bellamy and Williams 2005.

  23. 23.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.7.

  24. 24.

    The AU was in a precarious situation with the Headquarters of the AU (and before 2002 of the OAU) in Addis Ababa, the capital of one of the parties in the conflict.

  25. 25.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.4.

  26. 26.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.5.

  27. 27.

    See, e.g., International Crisis Group 2005.

  28. 28.

    SC Res 1681 (2006), 31 May 2006, S/RES/1681.

  29. 29.

    SC Res 1741 (2007), 30 January 2007, S/RES/1741.

  30. 30.

    See Bailliet 2007, especially para 3.3.4.

  31. 31.

    See Bailliet 2007, n 4 and n 28 for an overview of international jurisprudence.

  32. 32.

    There appear to be no reports of rape of female soldiers by soldiers of the other side.

  33. 33.

    SC Res 1398 (2002), 15 March 2002, S/RES/1398, para 8. The emphasis in quotations from Security Council Resolutions is in the original.

  34. 34.

    SC Res 1767 (2007), 30 July 2007, S/RES/1767.

  35. 35.

    SC Res 1798 (2008), 30 January 2008, S/RES/1798.

  36. 36.

    In SC Res 1798 (2008) (above n 36), the Security Council reaffirms SC Res 1767 (2007); SC Res 1741 (2007); SC Res 1710 (2006); SC Res 1681 (2006); SC Res 1640 (2005); SC Res 1466 (2003); SC Res 1430 (2002); and SC Res 1320(2000).

  37. 37.

    Statement by the President of the Security Council, 30 April 2008, S/PRST/2008/12.

  38. 38.

    Special report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, 7 April 2008, S/2008/226.

  39. 39.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.4.

  40. 40.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.6.

  41. 41.

    Perhaps the closest precedent, albeit of a different character, of obstruction by a State which had earlier agreed with the deployment of a peacekeeping operation, would be the request by Egypt for the withdrawal of UNEF I, just before the outbreak of the Six-Days-War, in June 1967.

  42. 42.

    SC Res 1907 (2009), 23 December 2009, S/RES/1907.

  43. 43.

    SC Res 1862 (2009), 14 January 2009, S/RES/1862. The Security Council extended the arms embargo against Somalia and Eritrea; SC Res 2317 (2016), 10 November 2016, S/RES/2317.

  44. 44.

    The text is reproduced in Appendix A to this volume.

  45. 45.

    The text is reproduced in Appendix A to this volume.

  46. 46.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 32.

  47. 47.

    SC Res 2444 (2018), 14 November 2018, S/RES/2444.

  48. 48.

    See de Guttry, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.6.

References

  • Bailliet C M (2007) Examining Sexual Violence in the Military within the Context of Eritrean Asylum Claims Presented in Norway. International Journal of Refugee Law 19:471–510

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellamy A J, Williams P D (2005) Who’s Keeping the Peace? Regionalization and Contemporary Peace Operations, International Security 29:157–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Deen-Racsmany Z (2000) A Redistribution of Authority between the UN and Regional Organisations in the Field of the Maintenance of Peace and Security? LJIL 13:297–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Holt V K, Shanahan M K (2005) African Capacity-Building for Peace Operations: UN Collaboration with the African Union and ECOWAS. The Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • International Crisis Group (2005) Ethiopia and Eritrea: Preventing War. International Crisis Group. Africa Report, No. 101

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakobsen P V (2001) UN Peace Operations in Africa Today and Tomorrow. Yearbook of International Peace Operations 7:153–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Lie J H S (2009) UNMEE: Deterioration and Termination. NUPI, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Llewellyn H (2006) Current Developments, III, The Optional protocol to the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel. ICLQ 55:718–726

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwanenburg M (2006) Regional Organisations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Three Recent Regional African Peace Operations. Journal of Conflict and Security Law 11:483–508

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. OMRConsult, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Olivier Ribbelink

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olivier Ribbelink .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto DIRPOLIS, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea de Guttry

  2. Faculté Libre de Droit, Université Catholique de Lille, Lille, France

    Harry H. G. Post

  3. DILHPS, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Gabriella Venturini

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 T.M.C. Asser Press and the authors

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ribbelink, O. (2021). Some Remarks on the Nature and Practice of UNMEE. In: de Guttry, A., Post, H.H.G., Venturini, G. (eds) The 1998–2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia War and Its Aftermath in International Legal Perspective. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-439-6_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-439-6_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-6265-438-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6265-439-6

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation